Sunday, February 16, 2014

I am constantly finding myself setting up random craft areas around my house. These areas tend to look disastrous to anyone but me. Spools and buttons sprinkle the carpet among strips of fabric and bits of ribbon. It looks really messy but that's just the way my brain works. I love to see everything all at once and piece my work together.

This past Christmas though, Mike set me up with a shelf from IKEA. He put up a some shelves and helped move around the furniture. I finally had a mini craft room.

I do have a couple of knick knack shelves in our room. I like to switch the objects on these shelves around to whatever mood I'm in.

Those last two shelves are from my bookcase. I'm sure I'll soon fill these spaces with more craft supplies, but for now they are mostly a source of inspiration.

I think that it would be really cool to cover the back wall of the bookcase with a fun print or scrapbook paper.

These rolls of fabric are smaller pieces that I go to when my project needs just a little something special.

I've got a few piles of bigger sections of fabric stacked around or on top of shelves. These fabrics I use for my ongoing projects, or store fabrics that have been given to me. Sometimes it takes a while to get the proper inspiration for a print.

I do have a sewing machine on a small table we bought at the thrift store, but it's not pictured here because of all the clutter. Sever sewing projects have taken over the space and I just can't bear to put the mess online for the world to see.

To make up for not snapping a photo of my sewing area, I'll let you all in on one of my projects.

This is a skirt that I've made out of some corduroy pants. I never really wore them. I cut off the legs at the base of the back pockets and slit the fabric up to the zipper. I sewed the flap down to avoid the "awkward bump".

I then cut some brown fabric a little wider that the width than the pant's hip and gathered before sewing. When I tried on my new skirt I realized how mermaid like it looked. To salvage my work, I'll add some pretty sheer fabric to make it more A-line and I will also be sewing on some pretty trim.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

I "molded" the hats to my student's heads during play time. I set out fake flowers, feathers, and felt shapes. My preschoolers loved this craft and all I had to do was give them some glue and let them go to town!

You can check out a tutorial here. I highly recommend this project. It's very easy, quick, and a lot of fun for kids starting as young as three.

Monday, February 3, 2014

As a quick introduction, this is a video I made about a week ago concerning the physical recovery I'm going through with my miscarriage. Some may frown at my openness and frequent blogging about my loss but I've already seen my story help other women.

I would love to write a book one day, but for now I'll just stick with talking to my camera.

P.S. Keep in mind that I'm also active on Tumblr. You can check out my link here and keep up to date on our pregnancy journey.

I didn't realize until after I got home how TERRIBLE an angle I had on my face. Granted, I was driving so I had more important things to pay attention to. I debated even uploading this video based on how insecure I felt.

Then I realized that other girls like me are being invited to baby showers and all they can think about is their own loss. I felt like my thoughts would be encouraging to someone and that outweighed my insecurities.

So here you go people, judge me if you want. I'm putting my face and thoughts out there.

I picked up this little guy from Carter's Baby. He was a complete hit! My friend's invitation had a yellow elephant stamped on it, so I assumed that she was going for an elephant theme. Thankfully I was right.

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

I felt like doing a DIY project today and if you're a teacher then you're in luck!

Today's' project is perfect for any teacher, teaching any age, and any topic!

Teacher's don't get paid much and that's okay.

(we'll...it's really NOT okay but we don't do it for money)

We do it because we love our students and because we are super passionate about their futures. We also love freebies or anything cheap that can really add to our classroom's pizzazz.

Teachers, I give you... wrapping paper border!

You'll need:

- wrapping paper (get it on sale!)

- scissors

- a pen

- a laminator (most schools have one)

- a piece of an existing border (you can even borrow one)

So you'll want to get your hands on a piece of existing border. You really don't need much and you can even design your own pattern if you're feeling super.

Grab your wrapping paper and start tracing your pattern.

(tip: buy wrapping paper off season when it's 75 percent off)

By the way, check out this cute Christmas wrapping paper I'm using. It's so terribly charming with the little reindeer out on their holiday shopping, and the little Santa is picking up his Christmas tree. Soooo cute! I love how they drive their little cars around in a winter wonderland.

Cut out your border and laminate.

This is super important. Laminating makes your border really shine and you'll keep it for years! If you're going to go to all the work of cutting that bad boy out, laminate him.

Most school have a laminator, and some office supply stores give teacher discounts.

Do a little research and when in doubt, pull out the teacher ID. You'll be surprised at how many places give teacher discounts.

After you're done cutting out your beautiful handmade border there are two options left.

One. Leave your border as is and mount it in a flash

OR

Two. You can layer your border. I made this border out of spring themed wrapping paper and added a baby blue ribbon along the edge. The extra step just makes the border pop even more.

I hope that you try this DIY. You'll have something totally unique in your classroom and I would love to post your photos on the blog!

Monday, January 6, 2014

My husband and I set up a little sewing station for me over our Christmas break and I can't wait to show it to you. I just have a few more touches to do and then I'll need to take some nice photos to upload.

My sister-in-law and I would just love to do a craft show this year. We decided to give our table a circus theme so I've been scouring all over Pintrest for some inspiration.

I came across these sweet bears and I thought that I could modify them into circus bears with cool, fluffy collars and hats.

I love the idea of using small scraps of fabric to jazz up an ordinary plushie, so this is what I ended up with.

She's not at all what my diy pattern looked like. Her ears aren't nice and round and her legs are lopsided. Her face is too big. I pretty much gave up when it came to the collar and just threw together a skirt. I added an old bracelet as a necklace and sat Mrs.Ugly Bear on my shelf while I contemplated my work.

(same bear, different background)

I brought her to a woman (very much skilled in sewing) to critique and show me where I went wrong. To my surprise, she loved the bear. She said it was like art and very crafty and creative. I tried pointing out my flaws to which I got "Oh hush! She looks wonderful!"

I am definitely going to try again, and hopefully next week I'll have a real circus bear to show to you all.